The release in 2006 of Days of Glory (Indigènes), his second entry to the Foreign Language Oscar race, contributed to the partial recognition of the pension rights of soldiers from former French possessions by the French government.
Last year the festival for me was all about one incredible Palestinian film and the filmmakers behind it, whose journey I followed all the way to the Foreign Language Oscar race.
Based on a real story and unfolding as a courtroom drama, this film is Ethiopia's entry to the 2015 Foreign Language Oscar race, and won Audience Choice at both Sundance and Berlin.
In Najwa Najjar's Eyes of a Thief, which was Palestine's entry to the Foreign Language Oscar race last year, I found both those prerequisites within the character of Tareq, an antihero played with wondrous nuances by Egyptian superstar Khaled Abol Naga.
It will include such adult-beloved gems as Annemarie Jacir's masterpiece When I Saw You, Wajma: An Afghan Love Story which made waves at Sundance and the critically acclaimed Kauwboy, last year's Dutch entry to the Foreign Language Oscar race.
Greatly admired at Cannes, where Pawlikowski took home the director prize, "Cold War" also dominated the recent European Film Awards (winning for film, director, actress and others) and has emerged as a strong rival for "Roma" in this year's foreign language Oscar race.
Less sure is the best foreign-language film race.
In the foreign-language film race, "Wild Tales" is up against favorites "Ida" from Poland and "Leviathan" from Russia, along with Estonia's "Tangerines" and Mauritania's "Timbuktu".
In a recent piece for the Wrap (titled "Do the Oscars Have an Asia Problem in the Foreign-Language Film Race?"), Steve Pond shrewdly pointed out the dim track record for East Asian, South Asian and Southeast Asian movies of late.
